Dunedin rail workshop could benefit

The Rail and Maritime Transport Union hopes Dunedin's Hillside Workshop will benefit from the contract.

The union says CAF was their preferred contractor and the Spanish company has been in contact with the union about local capability.

However, the union's secretary in Dunedin, Stu Johnstone, told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme nothing is certain.

"We're hoping for Dunedin that there might be some componentry work which could be done and then railed up to Auckland to put the final units together. But there's a lot of discussions to be had before we know anything definite like that."

Mr Johnstone says CAF has a track record of working with local firms where it wins contracts.